And That Is That
by wowsugarpuss
Summary: Missing scene from between 215 and 216. Logan goes to Veronica for help.


"I think I've done something horrible."

"And this is different from any other day how?" she asked impatiently. Veronica's notepad tapped restlessly against her hip.

"Come on, Veronica. I'm serious." Logan swallowed; the muscles tight from his back all the way up through his throat. His downcast eyes trailed the floor and Veronica felt something like empathy crawling up inside her. She couldn't seem to help that with him.

"Take a seat; I'll get you some coffee. I still have ten minutes left on my shift," she ordered.

Logan nodded, uncharacteristically compliant and wandered as far into a corner as he could get. He slumped into the back of the booth and slid as far under the table as his frame would allow. He looked defeated and Veronica added an extra shot of espresso to his latte. Usually hyper Logan wouldn't be something she cherished but she would be willing to put up with non-stop rambling if he would just look alive.

She caught her manager watching as she stared over at Logan and gave the girl a quick, perky smile. She lifted the cup as if to prove she was really working and made a b-line to Logan's chosen table.

"Here. I'll be back in five, but Sarah's giving me the evil eye."

"You don't even have anyone to serve," he pointed out dryly.

"Never underestimate the service industry, Logan. Everybody always wants something from you."

He ducked his head at the thinly veiled observation and picked up his cup with one hand, shoving the other into the pocket of his jeans to grab his wallet. "Thanks."

"It's cool. On the house. Believe me, Jessica's spilled at least three times this much coffee today."

"And I thought pens and hole-punches were the only things people bothered stealing from work."

"Hmm, being a barista does have its upsides. Okay, gotta go. Hang tight." And before Logan could respond Veronica was swiftly headed to a table across the room, gathering up doilies and used cups with a determination he hadn't seen in her for a long time.

He watched her flit across the room and finally, a good ten minutes after she was supposed to get off, he saw her pocketing a tip as she headed straight for him, falling into the seat opposite.

"Okay! Finally." Her tone softened as she prompted, "What is it, Logan?"

"Hannah's gone."

"Like, gone to Palm Springs for the weekend and you're bored, gone?"

"Like, sent away to boarding school because her dad caught her in my hotel room, gone."

"You didn't..."

Logan was suspiciously quiet as he stared at the remaining coffee in his cup.

"You're just... unbelievable."

He swallowed, hard and still offered no explanation.

She shook her head, disappointment filtering through her features. No matter what she said, Veronica had seen first-hand Logan's more redeeming qualities and she was constantly kicked in the gut at his inability to act like a decent human being. She'd seen it happen, she _knew_ he was capable of it. "Give me five minutes to get changed out of this thing."

"Okay," he mumbled in response, drowning the last drops of his double latte.

Veronica had to admit that she was a little surprising to see him in the same booth, waiting for her, when she returned from the bathroom. Part of her had been convinced that he would run, that he would realize she was _not_ the person he should be going to for relationship advice. If she was honest with herself, part of her had wanted that. The whole situation was more than a little awkward.

She marched over, nodding to the door and following Logan out as he headed for his car. She jumped into the passenger side and let out a deep sigh. "So, your girlfriend-- do I call her your girlfriend, or is 'leverage' a better descriptor?"

"Are you just gonna be a bitch this whole time?"

"Fine. Your _girlfriend_'s dad catches the two of you doing... whatever. And she gets shipped away, right?"

"Right."

"And why do I need to know this, Logan?"

"I... I don't know. Okay? Who else am I going to tell?"

"Dick?" she suggest flippantly.

"Dick is of the persuasion that women, much like the condoms he associates them with, are disposable."

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "Well, at least he's staying safe."

"Veronica, _please_." Logan's voice broke and he had trouble forcing out the remaining words. They were all glued up in his chest and there didn't seem anyway to unstick the feeling of utter inability. "I just, I feel--"

"You _feel_ now?" she snapped, cutting him off. "That's a new development." Veronica didn't want to admit how much his stunt with Hannah had crawled under her skin, but she had been used before too and it had led to nothing but obsessive disorders and a year full of trying to get back to herself. Logan had seen the climax of her years-worth of breakdown, he should have known better.

"Oh yeah, cause _I'm_ the emotionally unavailable one. _I'm_ the one that never fucking lets anybody know what I'm thinking."

"Do you _hear_ yourself talk, Logan?"

"_You_ broke up with _me_, Veronica. You didn't even give me a chance to explain."

"I thought this was about Hannah," she replied pointedly.

"Yeah. Right."

"I'm sorry you're hurting, Logan. I am. But you brought this on yourself. Just like you brought our break up on yourself."

"Sure. Okay, Veronica. I don't even know why I bothered, y'know?"

"Just--just listen. Okay. Again my best judgment, I care about you Logan. And I'm sick of trying to make things okay so if you could just stop being an idiot that would be great."

"It was sort of desperate times."

"I know."

"She didn't think I was some murdering creep. She just forgave me, for like everything."

"And it was easy and she was not yet disillusioned by your gender and things were great. That's not _life_. That's like a bad made-for-TV movie."

"I _know_. That's the worst part. I _knew_ that."

"Look," she sighed. "Life is hard and people suck, but it gets better."

"Nice platitude."

"No, really. After summer it's college. A whole new set of people who don't even know you. You can be whoever you want, and may I suggest not-a-jackass might go down well."

There was a thick moment of silence before he responded. "Thanks."

"Any time," she nodded with her first genuine touch of a smile. "But right now I have to mosey before things fall apart at the ranch."

"Ah, yes. Family life. I remember it well."

"Enjoy room service, Logan," Veronica called, clambering out of his car.

She slid into the front seat of her own car, aware of Logan's eyes burning into her back. Raising an eyebrow in departure, he smirked back, and she threw the car into gear. Their paths split almost instantly on the road and she watched his car disappear in her rearview mirror wondering how long it would be before their lives mirrored that.


End file.
